It's no secret that California's fiscal house has long been out of order, and it's become especially apparent this past year when the Governor and Legislature pushed through a series of deep cuts as a last-ditch effort to balance the budget. The austerity measures didn't stop at cuts to state programs- most state workers will also be facing a pay cut starting this fiscal year.

Humor has an odd way of bringing to light the absurdity of the things said by Mitt Romney, and once again Stephen Colbert has nailed him for one of his disconnected statements. During a $50k per plate campaign fundraising dinner in Mississippi, Romney pointed out that the middle class "isn’t having a good year." While addressing the audience Mitt said:

With the start of the modern Olympics in 1896, people followed the games through newspapers. Now they follow Olympic coverage through television and fans even interact directly with athletes via social media like Twitter. The following infographic is about the evolution of Olympic coverage:

Jokes aside, it’s no surprise that political campaigns are chomping at the bit to utilize social media sites in every way possible right now. A new up and comer for this is Pinterest, which has had exponential increases in traffic since its creation in 2010. With an estimated 68% to possible 97% statistic of women users, it has become a target outlet for female voters.

Today’s world news round-up. An independent breakdown of notable global developments in a news update.

The Guardian - Egypt's former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman dies in US